An Angel on Fire
by abcbarricadeboys
Summary: Ashley Johnston was well versed in the criminal under world of Oceanside, her mother was in prison for the murder of her abusive manipulative father. Despite crime being in her blood the secret she kept close to her chest was that she wanted out since she already had blood on her hands. The one thing she knew was if you stand too close to the flame, you're going to get burnt. J/OC
1. Chapter 1

_**An Angel on Fire**_

 _ **Chapter One**_

A gasp ripped its way out of Ashley Johnston's lungs. She flung herself into a sitting position in her double bed. The sweat covered sheets clung to her skin. The room was silent bar her rapid breathing and the soft ticking of her analogue clock. She ran her warm hands through her soaked hair.

"It was just a nightmare. It's not real anymore" she reminded herself.

Nightmares used to be a common experience for Ash but since she moved into this foster home for young and at risk women just over three months ago, they were no longer a constant reminder of the abuse she'd lived through. The most recurring and vivid nightmare was the night her mother, Yasmine, had murdered her father, Jordan.

She was only six at the time when it happened, but she could accurately recall the sound that the gun made when fired. The acidic and metallic taste which lingered in the air in the aftermath. The sounds her father made as he lay dying on the floor of their home. Fear clouded his eyes when realisation that he was going to die hit him.

Ash held no ill will towards her mother for that night since Jordan wasn't exactly the best man, husband or father.

However she had a handful of good memories from her times with her father, but now she was able to see that they always had some underlying motivation. One of those such memories was from when she was six years old and he was teaching her how to crack a safe. He justified it to her by claiming that it was a life skill that every child should know.

Ash didn't want to remember his harsh tone of his voice or the pain that his hands left on her tiny body when she'd failed to open the safe after who knows how many attempts. But what she chose to remember was how proud he was when she'd managed to do it.

Once her breathing slowed down, she flicked on the right bedside lamp. The light illuminated up her room. Her eyes fixed onto the clock, it was half six in the morning. She rolled her eyes and sighed, knowing that even if she was able to get back to sleep it wouldn't be worth it. Rose Lincoln, the woman who was in charge of the house, made sure that everyone in the house was up, out of bed, dressed and doing something productive at 7:30 even on the weekends.

Ash kicked the sheet to the bottom of her bed, she swung her legs over the bed and made her way over to the main light. She flicked it on the main light. Her room was like a bomb went off in it. Clothes littered every possible place; thrown on the floor or neatly folded and placed in piles, hanging off the desk chair, they were everywhere besides the wardrobe. Plates, empty mugs, more forgotten about cups of coffee than she was willing to admit where across every surface. Her shoes had taken over a corner of her room. The books she used for school were hidden under a mix of clothes and loose paper. Her laptop and phone where at the bottom of her bed, covered by her duvet that she must have kicked down in the middle of the night. She picked up a plain t-shirt and black ripped at the knee jeans from the clean pile and quickly got changed into them.

Ash spent the next half an hour cleaning her room and making it look like presentable. The reason she let her room appear like this was due to this being the first home since she was taken into foster care that she felt safe enough to show off her belongings without the fear of them getting stolen by someone else. Her laptop had returned to its rightful spot in the middle of her desk, it was quietly playing the newest episode of her favourite podcast. Her door was wide open so she could bring the plates and mugs to the kitchen with ease so she didn't have to carefully stack them in an attempt to stop spilling of the ice cold coffee.

"Moring" Ash smiled at Rose when she entered into the kitchen for the tenth time since she woke up. Rose's eyes fixed on the four mugs that the seventeen year old had in her hands.

"I wondered where the mugs went" Rose drawled out before taking a sip of her freshly made coffee.

The younger one emptied out the contents of mug into the sink before giving it a quick run under the water.

"Sorry" Ash's head hung in embarrassment, she could feel her cheeks turn red slightly.

Rose laughed into her mug, "That's okay kid. At least there's not mould in them" she shook her head at that particular memory.

"I'm working till late so I won't be back for group. That okay?" It came out as more of a question than a statement.

"As long as you're working and not just using it as an excuse to be at the beach" Rose teased.

"That was one time and it was my break!" Ash laughed, before turning around on her heels and walking out of the kitchen.

"Breakfast in twenty" Rose said as she watched Ash leave.

As Ash crossed into her room, she closed the door behind her. All she wanted to do was throw herself onto the freshly made bed but her better judgment stopped her from doing so.

Her phone vibrated against the desk, she unlocked it and checked the recent messages. One from Deran Cody, one from Frankie West (work babe), one for Cassidy Romanov and the recent one from Peter Anderson.

She sat down on her chair before opening the messages from Deran.

Deran Cody:party tonight. You gonna come?

Ash thought it over for a moment before typing her response. "Maybe. Depends if work runs late or not"

Cassidy Romanov: Swing round for pick up.

The message from Frankie was a confirmation of her work schedule for the next month.

Peter Anderson: baby don't be like this.

As Ash's eyes scanned over the text and decided just to delete it straight away, she didn't want to deal with that cheating scum. They weren't officially together but manners and basic respect would suggest that you don't sleep with another girl.

* * *

Ash's shift at the Surf Shack had been dragging on. It felt longer due to how good the surf was, she could see the break from her position in the Shack. She loved her job, she knew most of the customers anyways since they were all fellow surfers and water people. She loved being in the surf so much more, it was the one place that she was able to clear her head.

She audibly whined as she remembered how long it'd been since she was in the ocean last. Her hand subconsciously rubbed over the large bandage on her left forearm. Just a few weeks ago, she was knocked off her board by some tourist who had no respect for the rules of the water, and as she was coming up for air, her arm got sliced by the fin of someone from the same tour group. Three hours in a doctor's waiting room and ten stitches later, her arm was no longer a stream of blood. But much to Ash's disappointment, she wouldn't be allowed back into the ocean until it healed completely.

She was busy re-organising the bucket of discount bikini bottoms as Frankie West, her favourite co-worker came over and helped her with the task at hand.

"Yes Franks?" Ash asked while they worked away, knowing that the only reason Frankie would be helping her was when she wanted something from her.

"Can you go out and do the outside stands before you go?" Frankie pleaded, her bottom lip stuck out. Ash ignored how pathetic and desperate she looked.

"Fine" Ash dropped the blue and white bottoms that she had in her hand and made her way out of the store.

The teenager busied herself with the restocking of the stands. She had a box full of sunglasses and hats at her feet, it may have been a simple task to do but she loved feeling the sun on her skin. It couldn't replace the feeling of being in the water but for the next while, it was the best option she had.

"Ash"

Her head snapped towards the location of the voice, since she instantly recognised it.

"No. Fuck off Peter" Ash hissed as she set down the merchandise she was busy restocking.

"Talk to me"

"Why?" she snapped as she turned away from him in an attempt to convince him to leave her alone.

"Baby look at me!" Peter's voice cut through the air.

"Don't call me baby!" Ash yelled back. "You don't get that privilege anymore" She spun around to face him again.

The heads of a group of local surfers turned around to the source of yelling. The dirty blond who recognised Ash's voice gave her a soft smile, before turning back around to finish getting his equipment back into his Scout. He didn't want to intervene but he was more than ready and willing to do so.

"Fine! Ashley why won't you talk to me then?"

"Because you fucked another girl" Ash ran her hands through her hair in disbelief.

"She didn't mean anything"

"But she meant enough to fuck?" venom laced her voice.

Peter opened his mouth to say something but Ash continued.

"Just fuck off Peter. We're done. Over. Finished. No longer fucking" Ash yelled as she turned around on her heels to make her way back into the store.

Peter grabbed her arm and pulled her back. He forced her to face him. Ash fell back into herself, not knowing if this would play out the way it did with almost every parental figure she had in her life. She tried to make herself as small as she physically could, her breathing quickened as Peter spoke. Everything he was saying went in one ear and out the other, which was something she was slightly grateful for, it meant that she wasn't subjected to the abusive language he was spitting at her.

She forced her eyes shut so she didn't see exactly how it happened but Peter had let go of her hand and she'd been forced into taking a number of steps back. But for some reason she felt safe enough to open her eyes. A mess of dirty blonde hair was standing between her and Peter.

"Don't fucking touch her" Deran Cody spoke through his gritted teeth, he turned his head to face Ash who was still trying to process what was happening. "Ash you okay?"

"I'm fine" she gave a weak smile.

Peter getting annoyed with Deran's presence snapped out, "Mate fuck off. This is between me and my girl"

Ash tried to take a step forward but Deran stopped her.

"I'm not your fucking mate. And you're clearly not wanted"

"What can't you understand?" Ash shouted from behind Deran. "You fucked another girl so I ended things"

"See, she doesn't want you here." Deran took a step forward, using his physical stature to immediate the younger man.

Peter glanced around to see that more locals were watching what was going on.

"Fine mate you know what? She's an easy fuck and definitely not worth the effort. But you can have her" Peter ran his finger over his bottom lip.

He turned around laughing to himself. Before Ash could tell Deran not to react, he'd grabbed him by the shoulder and he'd punched Peter so hard in the nose that it broke. Deran smirked as he felt Peter's nose break, blood began flowing down his face.

A smile came over Ash's face as she watched Peter run off with his hands covering his face.

"Thank you"

"It's okay" Deran was still fixed on watching Peter run off, he flexed his hand in some sort of attempt to shake off any pain.

Ash grabbed his arm as she moved to stand beside him. "My hero" the sarcasm dripped from her voice. "Where would I be without my wetsuit clad hero?"

Deran shrugged his shoulders before looking over at Ash, who was playfully hanging off his arm. "Still talking to that jackass?"

Before Ash managed to answer Deran's question, Owen, the manager called out for her and gave his 'you better get back to work' glare that he so often gave her. Truthfully, Ash didn't know why Owen hadn't fired her yet, it was probably due to her knowing most of the surfers from around this area. If she was there, the Shack was more likely to get their business.

"I best get back to work" she pointed in the general direction of the Shack before sticking her hands into the pockets of her jeans, "I'll be finished in half an hour if you want to give me a ride back to the house" she smiled at him, knowing that Deran was often powerless against her.

"Go" he laughed as he walked back towards his Scout.

* * *

Deran decided to wait till Ash had finished her shift in order to give her a ride back to the group home. As he drove them in the general direction of the home, Ash had stuck her legs over the door much to Deran's annoyance.

Deran pulled over two streets away from the foster home, he turned the Scout off as Ash jumped out and turned around to face him.

"I'll be twenty minutes tops. I've just got to convince Rose that I'm staying with Franks" as she spoke, she pushed her sunglasses back up her nose.

"Will Frankie cover for you?" Deran asked.

Ash shuffled on her feet, her hands wrapped around the straps of her small backpack. "Yea, she should. She's done it before"

Deran nodded as she walked down the street in the direction of the home.

It only took her a few moments to walk the distance home. She dug through her back pocket to pull out the house key, she pushed the key into the lock and turned it to the left. The door swung open and she walked in through the door.

"Rose?" she called out as the door closed behind her.

"Ash?" Rose answered from the kitchen.

The teenager walked into the kitchen, she dropped her backpack on the table, and went over helped Rose put away the clean dishes.

"What do you want?" Rose asked.

"What makes you think I want something?" Ash replied, faking her shock.

"I've worked with teenagers long enough to know that they don't help unless they're getting something"

"How could you think that is something I'd do" she laughed.

Rose sighed, "Ash what do you need?"

"Frankie wants me to come out, because it's her girlfriend's birthday and Franks doesn't really know anyone. It'll be like dinner, movie and bonfire at the beach." the words came out in one breath.

"What time will you be back at?"

"She'll leave me back around tomorrow morning" her gaze was fixed on a spot just above Rose's head.

"That's okay as long as you're back for morning group."

"Seriously?" Ash blurted out without realising.

"I trust you and you're almost an adult" Rose shrugged her shoulders before she started stacking the dirty dishes into the dishwasher.

Ash turned around and made her way to her ground floor bedroom before Rose stopped to ask any more questions which she wouldn't feel comfortable answering with a lie. It wasn't like Ash was able to tell Rose the truth about what she was actually doing, Rose didn't exactly approve of her friendship with Deran due to his brush with the law all those years ago. But what Rose didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

Ash quickly changed out of her work shirt into the one she was wearing this morning. She changed her bag from the small backpack that she used for work to one of the duffle bags she'd had for years, into it she threw clothes which would be deemed pool party appropriate since she didn't know if the party was a pool one or not. She threw in a shirt for sleeping in and few sets clean of clothes to wear coming home tomorrow. The necessary equipment to clean her arm was also packed away.

"I'll be back before group" Ash said as she poked her head into the kitchen, seeing that Rose was still busy with cleaning up the dishes from dinner.

"Go have fun. Don't do anything too illegal please" the older woman spoke without turning around to face Ash.

"When have I ever done anything illegal?" she questioned, not wanting to hear Rose's answer she made her way out and almost ran the two streets to Deran's Scout.

Once she reacted the Scout, she threw her duffle over the door. She leant over so that her hands were cupped around her knees. Her panted in an attempt to catch her breath, after a few seconds, she started messaging her burning calves with one hand and with the other, she held up her index finger in an attempt to stop Deran from laughing at her.

After a moment, Ash's breathing had slowed done enough for her to climb into the passenger seat.

"Shut up" she said in between her deep breaths.

"I didn't say anything" he chuckled before turning the key in the ignition and begin the drive to Smurf's house.

* * *

Deran opened the passenger door of the Scout for Ash, who jumped out of her seat with her duffle bag in hand.

"Such a gentleman" she rolled her eyes and made her way through the front door of the house as Deran made his way around to the pool.

Ash shoved her way past the party goers as she made her way to the kitchen, where Smurf currently was standing. The matriarch of the Cody family watching the party unfold, Deran and Craig were currently on top of ledge which was positioned over pool. From inside the house, it wasn't clear what they were currently talking about. A crowd had gathered around them to watch them jump.

Smurf rolled her eyes at her children as she looked around and saw that Ash was making her way over.

"Sweetheart, I haven't seen you in forever" Smurf stated as she handed over a still capped bottle of beer.

The teenager took it with a smile and twisted off the cap, before giving her reply "Yeah, I've been busy as hell lately with school, work and the new group home". She took a small swig of her bottle as she looked out to the pool as Craig shoved Deran off the ledge and into the pool below.

"How's the new home? Do you feel safe there?" Smurf asked, as her gaze lingered on the bandage.

Ash couldn't tell if she was just trying to make small talk or if she was genuinely concerned. Even after all this time, Ash was still unsure of what her position was with Smurf, more often than not Ash struggled to read Smurf's body language. The two women were more like than they were willing to admit, the matriarch and the teenager both kept everything close to their chest.

"Well compared to the other twenty or so homes I've lived in, so yeah I feel pretty safe." She shrugged her shoulders, before setting her beer onto the worktop.

"You're always welcome here"

"Thank you." Ash smiled, as she shifted her duffle-bag from one shoulder to the other. "Which room can I leave my duffle in?"

"Julia's old room" she pointed over to a room on the other side of the party.

Before Ash was able to start making her way over to Julia's old room, a male teenager, no older than herself walked into the kitchen and grabbed a beer for himself and he began talking to Smurf. She vaguely recognised him but she couldn't put either her finger on where she knew him from or a name to his face. Something was off about him, it was clear that he wasn't in a mood to be at this pool party, he seemed overwhelmed but by what she didn't know. When he stood across island from Smurf, his body language was tight and ridged, he hadn't taken a drink from his bottle so to Ash, and it was obvious that he was only using the bottle as a means of keeping his hand occupied. Something which Ash had done far too many times when she'd be invited to a party that she knew only a handful of people there.

Smurf directing the conversation towards Ash snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Yes?" she said with a smile and picked up her beer bottle once again.

"This is my grandson, J" Smurf explained, as she placed her hand on his back.

"Ashley Johnston. Hi" she awkwardly waved her free hand. "But call me Ash, the only people who call me Ashley are my mother when I see her, Timothy my social worker and people who're angry or disappointed with me. Maybe that's why Timothy always calls me Ashley" her voice trailed off.

"I know" J spoke, "We in the same year at school"

"We are?" she didn't mean to say this out loud.

She didn't doubt that J was telling the truth since she may have been well known throughout the school but there weren't many people who she actually liked or who actually liked her. Once people started getting to know Ash for who she really was, they didn't like to stick around or when they finally got whatever they wanted from her, they pretended not to know her.

"You were meant to be my lab partner in Chem but you left the class." J rubbed the label of his bottle.

"Oh shit yeah you were. Sorry that I didn't remember. I was high as fuck that day" as she rambled on she ran her free hand through her hair.

Sensing that her interaction with J wouldn't go much further she spoke again, "I'm gonna go leave my duffle in the room" she pointed in the general direction before taking off that way.

"You fucking idiot" she muttered to herself as soon as she was far enough away, she was lucky that he wasn't able to see her checks flush with embarrassment. And she was even more lucky that Deran or Craig didn't see it, because they'd never let her live in down.

* * *

Ash lay across one of the many pool side seats, her eyes were hidden behind her sunglasses. She'd changed out of her skinny jeans and t-shirt into something more pool side appropriate, a loose fitting white tank top, it just only slightly relieved the small trio of tattooed birds on her shoulder which she got for her seventeenth birthday and a pair of ripped jean shorts. Under her outfit she was wearing a black bikini. Two years ago, this would have been an outfit that Ash never would have dreamed of wearing to a pool party or even outside of her bedroom, it showed off every scar she'd even gotten, her body was littered with them. Every scar told a small part in her story of abuse.

She felt the warmth of the sun leave her, before two pairs of arms grabbed her and lifted her up.

"Deran. Craig! You fuckers. Let me go!" Her yelling was mixed with laughter.

Deran had let go of Ash's legs as Craig threw her over his shoulder. The well-built man carried her from her position at the side of the pool to the ledge that they'd been jumping off earlier. Her constant trashing didn't seem to cause Craig any problems.

"Craig. Put me down" she laughed as they stopped at the top. "I hate you both so much."

Craig lifted her off his shoulder and placed her onto the ledge. She stood up and when her two feet where firmly on the ledge, Deran grabbed her by the legs and Craig by the arms once more.

"No don't you fucking dare" she warned but she was ignored as they slowly started to swing her over the edge. "Put me down" she yelled.

"Okay" Deran laughed as both brothers let go of her. She hit the water in the pool below with a loud splash. Craig and the remnants of the group around the pool cheered loudly as Ash hit the water whereas Deran winced slightly, knowing that it could have hurt Ash accidently.

Once Ash's feet hit the bottom of the pool, she pushed off it. She gasped for a breath before looking up towards the two brothers, one of whom was still laughing away and the other looking ever so slightly concerned.

"I fucking hate you Craig" she yelled as she treaded water in the place she landed.

"You don't Princess" he yelled back.

She held up her bandaged arm and yelled "If this gets infected, I'm gonna kill you. I don't have medical insurance. I only just paid off my last hospital bill!"

She swam towards the edge of the pool, choosing to ignore whatever Craig was saying back. She struggled to keep her injured arm out of the water, knowing that it probably wouldn't do much good since it had already been under and exposed to the bacteria.

As she walked towards Julia's old room, she flipped off Craig and Deran. The door to the bedroom slid open just enough for her to get through. Making sure that the door was closed behind her, she quickly got out of the wet clothes and she lifted the towel up and started to dry herself off. Her drenched clothes were in a pile on top of around towel. She knew that Smurf wouldn't mind if the floor was wet but this was one home from the bad foster homes that she'd probably not be able to break. Nothing should be out of place and if anything is the punishment will make you think twice about doing it again.

Once she was dry, she dropped the towel with the rest of her wet clothes she quickly got dressed into the clothes that she was wearing to the party. She peeled off the wet bandage and threw into the trash can beside the desk.

"Shit shit shit" she audibly muttered to herself as she applied the cream to the stitches which ran along her forearm. She winced in pain as the stinging sensation made its way up her arm.

"You okay?" a soft voice broke through the quiet room.

"Yeah, I'm fine" Ash looked up towards J, "well not really" she laughed.

J looked towards her arm and dropped to his knees in front of her. He helped her finish cleaning up her arm, he lifted up the clean bandage and handed it over to her. She took it from him with a smile as she wrapped it around her arm.

"Thanks" she whispered and without him saying anything else, J left the room once again.

Ash stared at the space that J had occupied, slightly dumbfounded at him. She covered her eyes with her hands and fell backwards onto the bed.

"Why are you like this?" she spoke out loud, knowing that no one would be able to hear her over the sound of the music.

* * *

AN: Yeah so this is it. if you want to see edits for this go to my tumblr which is abcbarricadeboys and copy this after the url tagged/fic%3A-an-angel-on-fire or just head into my tag page and you'll find the link there.

Hope you enjoyed this.


	2. Chapter 2

_**An Angel on Fire**_

 _ **Chapter Two**_

After a few moments of trying to regain her composure, Ash pushed herself off the bed and walked out the open door to see the back of an older man, maybe in his early to late thirties, attempting to enter into J's new room. Ash shrugged her shoulders as chose to walk by him, not acknowledging him. She made her way down the long corridors of the house, passing by Smurf who was calling out for J. The two women just smiled briefly at each other. Ash had considered telling Smurf about the man who was lurking around J's room but with her heading that way, it seemed that there'd be no point.

Once in the kitchen, she grabbed one of the few unopened bottles of beer and dropped down onto the couch, just needing a break from the party which was starting to die down. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and read through her recent text messages. A handful of them came from unknown numbers.

Unknown numbers: When can we pick them up?

The rest of the unknown number texts followed the same style as the first one.

She took a swig from her beer as she typed her reply of "three days' time" to each of the messages.

Ash was still busying herself away on her phone as the whole Cody family dropped onto the sofa. Deran right beside her. Craig sat on the floor at her feet. Baz and Catherine were beside each other on the sofa next to them. J stood at the entrance to the seating area. Smurf and the previously unknown man sat down on the final couch.

"Ash sweetheart, you remember Pope, don't you?" Smurf said as she moved into a comfortable position on the couch.

"Yea I do" she smiled slightly nervous at him before she shoved her phone back into the front pocket of her jeans. She didn't really know much about Pope since he'd been in prison for the past three years and Ash wasn't as involved with the family before he went to prison.

Ash zoned out of the conversation that was happening between the family members and rested her head on Deran's shoulder. Her fingers were rubbing the label of the bottle. She was only vaguely registered that J left when Deran nudged her off his shoulder, before he stood up and went outside.

She felt her phone start to vibrate in her pocket before it rung out. She didn't check the number before she decided to answer it. In an attempt to get some privacy she followed Deran outside. Craig and Deran were busying making sure that the people from the party who were still hanging around left. Ash dropped onto one of the few dry pool side chairs.

"This is Ash what do you want?" she snapped.

"Ash please don't hang up" a male's voice crackled through her speaker. The lingering twang of his Italian accent could still be heard over the phone.

"Give me one good reason, Matteo." She huffed.

"Have you got anything ready to fence?" Matteo asked.

Ash ran her head through her hair. "Not just yet. But I might come into something soon"

"Ashie come on. I need something"

If Ash didn't know Matteo as well as she did, she would have assumed that he was pleading with her.

"Well I've not picked anything up lately. But I'll check my storage"

"Come on, I give you mates rates" he spoke with a sing-song type tone.

"But y'know I mightn't be doing this much longer" she said, still slightly frustrated with him for not picking up on what she was hinting at. She rested her hand on her knee in some attempt to stop it bouncing before it begun. "Oh by the way, I'm getting them either tomorrow or the day after, so you'll have it when I next see you"

"Thank you Ashie" his jovial yet over the top tone was still evident.

Before Ash was able to say a word in response, Matteo hung up the phone and left an annoyed Ash just hanging there. She fell into the chair and forced her eyes shut, struggling to shut out the almost argument which was beginning to unfold in the kitchen between Smurf and Pope. Ash's thoughts lingered on the phone call with Matteo, there was something about it that left her with a sour taste in her mouth. Something was off but she didn't know what.

* * *

Ash walked out of the bathroom, with her hair wrapped in a towel. She was wearing one of Deran's old t-shirts. Due to her much smaller stature compared to Deran the hem of the shirt was hanging around her knees. J opened his door as Ash walked passed it.

"Hey" she smiled and continued towards her room for the night.

"Ash, can I ask you something?" J reached out towards Ash's arm. She flinched slightly due to his sudden movement. She stopped mid step and faced him.

"Sure J" she followed him back into his room. She sat down on the edge of the bed.

"What did you want to ask me?" she sat with her legs crossed under her body.

"You've been around my uncles a lot?"

"Yup, I guess I have" she nodded.

"Is it always like this?" his voice was quiet, it was as if he thought that the family would somehow be able to hear him.

"Partying and loud?" she paused for a moment, J nodded to allow her to continue speaking. "Yeah it is" her fingers drummed on the top of her thigh.

"Is Pope always that intense?"

"Truthfully? I don't know" she shrugged her shoulders, "I wasn't really around that often before Pope went to prison."

Ash covered her mouth as she yawned, she stood up from the corner and walked over to the desk which had a notebook placed on top. Ripping out a page, she wrote down her number in a matter of seconds.

"That's my phone number. Call me if you ever want to talk. I like to think that I'm semi adjusted to the chaos your family lives in" as she rambled on she waved her hands around herself, it was as if she thought that her hands would help explain what she was saying.

As she rambled on J looked at her with some amusement, his eyes lingered on her lips longer than they probably should have.

Ash yawned once again, before speaking, "I should really get to bed. Gotta a full day of shit to do tomorrow" she motioned towards the door. As she spun around on her heels, J's gaze was fixed on the way her legs moved, his eyes travelled up her body, ignoring the visible scars.

"Good night" J spoke

Ash gave him a soft, yet genuine smile before closed the door behind herself.

* * *

The sun light broke through the thin curtains that covered the window, Ash rolled over so that she was no longer facing the sun in some attempt to stay asleep. But that didn't last long as the headache she was trying to avoid hit her. It came down on her like a tonne of bricks, every noise that was being made in the kitchen increased the pain she was feeling.

Ash opened her eyes and kicked the covers off herself and rolled off the bed. With a groan she used the edge of the bed to pull herself onto her feet. She made sure that the shirt was brushing just above her knees as she stumbled out of the room and towards the kitchen.

"Morning sweetheart" Smurf smiled towards the young girl before turning back to making breakfast.

"Is there any coffee?" Ash asked, her voice still filled with sleep.

Baz pointed towards the freshly made pot.

"Are you wearing my shirt?" Deran asked Ash who was struggling to not inhale the coffee in an attempt to wake herself up.

"Well, it's my shirt now. I stole it from you ages back" she muttered before taking a sip of her drink. She ignored the burning sensation that travelled down her throat. In between sips of her coffee and in an attempt to reduce her headache, she rested her head on the cold kitchen island, trying her best to ignore the noise around her.

Deran and Baz were at the table busy talking about the location of the cameras for the job they were about to do. For the past two weeks, Ash had helped Deran scout the store so she knew the locations almost as well as he did. It should be a relatively simple job, minimal security, the cameras in easy to spot locations and no on site security. A simple smash and grab.

Ash actively chose to ignore what was being discussed at table since it was still too early for her to function.

It didn't even register with Ash that the boys at the table had finished with their discussion about the heist and that they'd been joined by the rest of the family. She ignored them and just ate her own breakfast while still being fixated on the conversation that she had with Matteo last night.

"We're headed for a surf. You gonna come?" Craig asked Ash as finally finished her cup of coffee.

Not even bothering to give a verbal response she lifted up her bandaged forearm to remind Craig that she couldn't go surfing even if she wanted. "Still a couple more weeks and anyways I gotta get back for group"

"You got a way back?" Smurf interjected.

"I'll call an Uber or Lyft." She shrugged her shoulders before moving to take another bite of the pancakes in front of her. "Wait, maybe not a Lyft. I got banned from them a couple of weeks ago. I think that there's a bus down the road so that'll do me"

"The boys will give you a ride?" Smurf stated, even though it was phrased like a question, Ash and the boys both knew that it was an order.

Deran nodded in response.

"Well, I better go get dressed" she lifted up her plate and placed it beside the sink. "Because group is in…" she looked down towards her wrist, thinking that she had her watch on. "I think it's in like thirty minutes but I don't know. Because I'm an idiot who lost her watch again."

Ash made her way back towards the room she spent most nights she was over in. She pulled on the clothes that she wore yesterday. She shoved everything back into her duffle before tidying the room slightly. The duvet cover which she'd kicked down during the night was positioned so it was just underneath the pillows. Once she was finished it looked as if no one had spent the night in the bed.

With her duffle in hand Ash made her way through the house and towards the front door. She stood in the middle of the garage to see that Craig, Deran and J were all waiting around for her. Craig was leaning against his motorbike, with two helmets in his hand.

"Wanna get a little closer to God, Ash?" Craig asked motioning towards his extra motorbike helmet.

"I occasionally have a death wish but you could not pay me enough to get on the back of that bike with you" Ash stated as she walked towards Deran and J.

Craig laughed and put on his own helmet and sped out of the driveway not waiting for the gate to open any further.

"I call shot gun" Ash laughed as she jumped into the passenger seat of the Scout.

J and Deran climbed in after her, J in the back seat and Deran in the driver's. The three surfboards in the back maybe it a tight squeeze for J to get comfortable.

"How old are you, are you twelve or something?" Deran asked as he started up the Scout.

"Twelve and a half actually" she corrected him as the left the house behind them.

For the drive back to the group home, Ash and Deran just talked about everything and anything to keep their mind off the upcoming job, whereas J just stayed quiet, for a moment Ash even forgot that he was in the seat behind her.

Anytime Deran spoke about the surf and how good it was lately, Ash whined as there was nothing she wanted more than being back out in the surf. The feeling of the ocean's breeze against her skin. For her, it was the one place she was able to turn off the noise in her head and just forget about all the pain she'd lived through - even if it was just for a moment.

Deran parked two streets over from the group home, which was normal for them. Ash jumped out of the door and J climbed into the front seat.

"Deran, can you tell Craig to not try and sleep with Cass if he's the one sent around. I'm getting sick of texts from her saying that he's tried again. And I don't have many friends so I don't want to piss off one of the few I have"

Deran shrugged his shoulders before speaking, "I'll tell him but you know what he's like"

"Please try to make sure that he doesn't even annoy her. Because I only have a handful of friends, and I can count them on my hand. You, Cass, Franks and sometimes Matteo, depending on how much he pisses me off in any given week"

Deran laughed in response as she sighed, before her phone beeped from her back pocket, she pulled it out and saw that the reminder for group had gone off.

"I've gotta run. Literally. Group is in like two minutes"

As Ash started to run down the path, she wasn't paying attention to where she was placing her feet. She stumbled over the side of the curb, her struggled not to fall face onto the footpath. She stood for a moment in an attempt to regain her composure.

"I'm okay" she yelled when she got herself moving again.

* * *

Ash was standing behind the counter at The Surf Shack, she lent her arms as she watched the surf crash. She wished that she could be out in the surf but just a few weeks longer until her stitches were out. Frankie walked out of the staff only area, she stopped and lent against the counter.

"When you finishing?" Ash asked Frankie, not taking her eyes off the surf.

"Five minutes" Frankie smiled as she lifted up an almost empty box of water bottles and placed a few of them in a rack to the side of the counter.

Ash's phone started to vibrate in her back pocket, she reached into her pocket and pulled it out.

"Why is Deran ringing me?" She muttered out loud. "Frankie can you cover me for ten minutes while I take this?"

"But I'm about to clock out and I've got to meet the babysitter" Frankie half whined.

"It'll be five minutes. I'll give you the fourty-five cents you make" Ash stated.

"Fine" Frankie replied.

"Thank you" she mouthed as she answered Deran's call.

Ash walked out to the front doors of the Shack, as she walked she pulled out a carton of cigarettes and a lighter from her back pocket. She lit up one of her pre-rolled cigarettes, she'd managed to rest the phone securely between her ear and shoulder.

"Deran what do you want?" Ash hissed down the phone as she walks around to the side of the Shack, in an attempt to find herself from Owen.

"Have you seen J?" Craig spoke down the phone.

Hearing Craig's voice over the phone, made her look to check that Deran was the one who called.

"Craig why are you calling me from Deran's phone" she asked, completely ignoring Craig's question, before taking a drag of her cigarette.

"Because we both knew you wouldn't answer if you knew it was me."

Ash nodded in response, momentarily forgetting that she was on the phone with Craig.

"So have you heard from him?"

"Why would I have heard from J? If you're suggesting that just because I'm a teenager I should know all other teenagers?" she explained, only slightly annoyed. The hand which her cigarette was in waved all around her. It was as if Craig was in front of her and not on the other end of the phone.

Ash could hear the brothers arguing, Deran wanted the phone but Craig wasn't willing to pass it over while Deran was still driving. Ash rolled her eyes as she listened to them argue.

"Ash have you heard from him or not?" Deran asked.

"No I haven't?" she ran her hands her hair as she started to pace around her hiding spot.

"Why is everything alright?" She hadn't known J that long but he didn't seem like the type of guy who would disappear without any good reason.

"No. It's not. It's was Julia's funeral today"

"Deran why the fuck didn't you tell me this? I would have been there!"

"I'm fine"

"I know you didn't see her for like ten years or something but she's still your sister. And this is something you should have told me"

"Ash you didn't have to be"

"What happened to her?" She whispered down the phone.

"She OD'd"

"Oh shit" the shock made the words slip out. "Deran I still should have been there! You're my best friend for fuck sake."

"You're scrapping the bottom of the barrel if I am then"

"Yea I guess I am. But I haven't heard from J." She took another drag from her cigarette, the smoke exited through her nose. "Maybe check around the pier?" she thought out loud.

"Okay thanks" Deran hung up the phone.

Ash finished off her cigarette and stumped it out on the wall behind her. She dropped it into the bin before making her way back into the store to see an increasingly agitated Frankie dealing with a much older man.

"I'm sorry but I have to pass you off to my colleague" Frankie explained to the man as she exited from behind the counter.

"Hi, I'm Ash so how can I help you?" she asked with her fake customer service voice.

* * *

When Ash's shift at the Shack finished ended, and after helping Owen close up the store for the day. Perks of working at a shop which had a predominantly surf clientele, as soon as the life guards leave or the sun goes down, the store can shut down. Ash grabbed her backpack and pennyboard out of her locker and made her way towards the industrial warehouse district.

The cool night breeze brushed against her skin. Rolling along the path which was right beside the beach. She listened to the crashing of the waves, just willing herself to keep moving.

The ride down the industrial warehouse district wasn't that eventful, until she reached the centre of the maze of warehouses. She flicked the board into her hand as she walked over to the unlocked door of the warehouse she knew that her friend occupied.

Ash pushed the heavy metal door open but it refused to budge so she slammed herself into the warehouse door in an attempt to ensure that it opened fully. It opened and she stumbled through the unlocked door. Ash laughed to herself and when she stood up straight, she brushed herself off with her free hand.

Cassidy was positioned on a stool in the middle of the floor space. The soft hum of classic music played throughout the warehouse. On the right of the painting easel was a long bench which held the small tubs of paint, glass jars of paint brushes were gathered in the back right corner.

In the front left hand size of the warehouse was a small kitchen, but instead of food and the typical equipment which is expected in a kitchen, it held a complicated home brewery kit.

Cassidy had a paint brush in her hand and her paint pallet in the other. She was as close as she could get to the easel with the canvas on it.

"Cassie?" Ash called out as she started making her way towards the woman, careful not to step on anything that Cassidy had thrown over the ground.

"Oh Ash!" Cassidy spun around on her stool, "I forgot you were coming tonight" she smiled as she placed down her materials.

"I'm here to the ID's" Ash waved her free hand around before she asked, "Can I smoke in here?"

Cassidy stood up and avoided the piles of equipment around, "Sorry you can't. I'm brewing" pointing towards the kit that was humming away in the corner. "Just give me two minutes and I'll have them ready"

Ash wondered around looking at the forged lines which lined the walls of the warehouse. She motioned to touch one of the paintings but common sense stopped her at the last moment. Her hand was mere inches away from the wet paint.

"Really Ash?" Cassidy's voice cut through the sound of the still playing classical music.

Ash held her hands up in defence, "I didn't touch it"

"You're an idiot" Cassidy chuckled to herself before throwing the large padded envelope into Ash's arms.

"There's six of them"

Ash opened the package and saw the tops of six different ID's, she closed it over again and shoved it into her backpack.

"Thanks." Ash smiled before turning on her heel to begin on her way home.

"Oh Ash, before you go, I need you to taste something" Cassidy called out and walked over towards the kitchen area. She opened up one of the smaller cabinets and pulled out four crystal glasses.

Ash never being one to turn down anything free, walked over towards her friend. The pair were leaning on the inner bench of the worktop.

"This won't get me drunk, will it? Because it's apparently it's illegal to stake and drive. Or so I heard" Ash badly explained.

Cassidy rolled her eyes.

"Nope. It won't since we're tasting and not drinking" Cassidy corrected her young colleague, as she poured out a finger of the amber liquid from the tap in the wooden barrel.

"You better be right" Ash commented, in response Cassidy just shook her head side as she poured more liquid from a glass bottle.

Ash took the smallest sip from the glass with the liquid from the wooden barrel, trying to pinpoint the range of different tastes, before she spat it out into the sink.

"What do you taste?" Cassidy asked as she swirled the liquid in her glass around.

"Oak?" before she continued rambling about how the drink tasted. Cassidy handed Ash the glass of the actual product and Ash repeated the previous action.

After a few moments of discussing what was missing from the forged drink, Ash spoke up to ask.

"What exactly is this for?"

"A rich client hired me to make that whiskey for them" Cassidy pointed over towards the glass bottle. The label for it must have been delicately removed by Cassidy for her to make the exact copy.

"So the rich people are rich enough to get you to make the whiskey but not rich enough to pay it?" Ash thought out loud, it didn't make sense to her way someone would hire a forger if they could get the real item for around the same price.

"Yeah. Even though I'm costing around the same. I'm confused truthfully" Cassidy sighed before she took a sip of her glass.

"Sure they aren't cops?" The jovial tone had completely dropped from Ash's voice.

"Yes buttercup. I'm pretty sure the couple aren't cops. They've bought art work from me before" Cass ruffled the hair of her young friend.

"I have to get going" Ash said as she set down the glass and made her way towards the door. Cassidy just watched the younger one leave and she just returned to her painting. When outside her friend's workspace, she grabbed her board which was placed outside the warehouse and started on the journey home.

* * *

The ringing out of Ash's phone woke her out of her light sleep, a perk of the countless homes she lived in - continually on edge and ready to move even when sleeping. She grabbed it and flicked open it to see the message.

As Ash tried to process the message another one came through from Baz.

Baz Blackwell: here now.

"Shit" Ash kicked off her covers knowing that the only reason Baz would text her after a job was that something went wrong during the latest job.

She quickly got dressed into the clothes she was wearing from the night before, she grabbed her pennyboard knowing that she wouldn't be able to get an uber there.

She climbed out her window, being continually thankful for a ground floor room. She used the cover of the darkness to make her way to the road. Once she was far enough away she dropped her board and started her way across town.

With it being the middle of the night, Ash was able to get to Smurf's house in half the time. She kick flipped the board into her hand and climbed over the security gate. She opened the door to see Pope struggling to hold Craig still as Baz was sticking some sort of medical instrument into Craig's shoulder.

Ash dropped her board at her feet as she helped Pope hold down Craig. As she was doing this she didn't even have time to think were Deran and Smurf where.

The rest of her time in the Cody household all fused into each other, she didn't register that J had returned home or that she could audibly hear Smurf trying to comfort Deran.

* * *

Once they were done with removing the bullet and Baz had stitched him up, Ash left the boys to be on their own as they struggled to help Craig towards his room. She walked around and dropped onto the couch and looked out the window. The sun had risen completely, she had no idea what time it was. Back at the house, Rose was probably about to get Ash up for the day or she'd probably already tried to do so and planning some sort of punishment since she wasn't in the house.

She rubbed her hands over her face before standing up. She washed Craig's dried blood off her hands before grabbing her pennyboard. She knew that she probably didn't have much time to get back if it was before Rose woke up.

Everything that the teenager was doing was robotic. She'd been on autopilot since she entered the property earlier that night. Out of Smurf's property, jump the gate, when a free meters down the road drop the board and start staking home.

Ash's hair whipped her in the face as she rolled down the street, doing her best to avoid to parked cars and early morning joggers. She closed her eyes as she used her hearing to figure out if she'd need to move. She was deep in thought about the events that had just unfolded, something went seriously wrong with the job and she knew it.

The sound of a car's engine slowing down made Ash open her eyes.

"Yes Baz?" she spoke as she watched the idling car.

"Get in I'll give you a ride" he spoke, the tone of his voice told Ash that it wouldn't be smart for her to refuse.

Ash flicked up her board, she picked it up and jumped into the passenger seat of Baz's car.

"Thanks" she muttered as Baz started down the road again.

"Security was on the south entrance last night" Baz coolly stated, almost as if he didn't care. His fingers wrapped around the wheel.

"Oh shit" her voice was barely audible.

"Would have been nice to have known" Baz commented, Ash was able to pick up the annoyance in his voice.

"Excuse me?" she snapped. "Are you suggesting that it was my fault?"

"Well you didn't tell us" Baz's accusation was evident to Ash.

"I'm sorry but Deran and I spent weeks doing recon, not you. Sometimes routes change at the last moment" Ash snapped as her hands tightened around her board. "Just pulled over. Here's good enough"

Neither of them said anything to each other as Baz pulled over. She swung the door open and got back onto her board, and slammed the door shut behind her.

* * *

AN: This is chapter two. I hope you liked it! updates will probably be every week and half or two weeks, probably. Thank you for the reviews on the last chapter, i'm glad people are enjoying this! Let me know what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

**An Angel on Fire**

 **Chapter Three**

Ash's afternoon shift was going incredibly slowly, but the only thing that made these shifts slightly better was that Frankie was also on there. Experiencing this living hell alongside her. But at the minute Frankie was busying herself with restocking the merchandise outside. The only two sounds that could be heard was the constant and annoying sound of the ticking clock and the radio. Every time the radio cut back to the hosts, the male spoke about the cop who died last night in an off duty incident. Ash paid little to no mind to the details which were being said.

For her position behind the counter she was able to see that Deran had parked his Scout only a few meters away from her current position. Ash sighed as the sound of the waves crashing could ever so faintly be heard. Only a few more hours and then she'd be out of work and only a few more weeks until she could be back in the waves. At this current second, Ash didn't know which she was more excited for.

Ash wasn't able to see that someone was approaching Deran's Scout as she was busy ringing up the bikini bottoms that a young woman was buying. The person stopped beside Frankie and she pointed into the store and towards Ash, who just about to finish the transaction.

"Ash" J's voice cut through the sounds.

An involuntary smile made its way across Ash's face. Her eyes lit up and for the first time that day she was happy to see to someone.

"You seen Deran?" J asked.

"Yeah, I saw him head into the showers" Ash pointed to the right. "Everything okay?" she asked

"Yeah, just that Smurf wants him back at the house for some sort of family meeting"

"Just letting you know but those meetings can be very boring"

J's gaze lingered on Ash's bottom lip as her tongue brushed against it. In an attempt to clear the lump in the bottom of her throat, Ash coughed before she spoke again. "I best get back to work and let you find Deran"

"I'll see you around" J said before he started walking out the store.

Ash's gaze was fixed on watching J leave so she didn't pick up that Frankie had come inside and was walking towards her.

"So who's the cutie that you're totally checking out" Frankie teased.

"That's J Cody" Ash had contemplated not telling Frankie that it was J but knowing Frankie as well as Ash did, she knew that Frankie wouldn't let it go.

"Ooooo you gonna go after that?" Frankie asked.

"No!" Ash exclaimed "First of all, I think he has a girlfriend. Secondly, he just lost his mom. And finally Deran, one of my best friends, is his uncle."

"So? Since when have those stopped you before?" Frankie asked, insinuating that Ash didn't have the best of morals when it came to relationships.

"Why does everyone think that?" Ash groaned in annoyance.

"Because you have a history" Frankie half reminded Ash.

"Okay that was just one time. And how was I meant to know that he was in a relationship?" Ash exclaimed, she slammed her hands onto the worktop. "Why did I get the bad reputation? He should have!"

"Life isn't fair, Ashie. Almost always the woman is painted as the bad one in the cheating situation"

"That's actual bullshit"

"I know" Frankie sighed as she moved behind the counter.

* * *

The cab pulled into the carpark, before Ash climbed out she paid the driver. As Ash started to walk towards the sliding glass doors, she pulled her satchel tighter to her side. Her steps were tentative, even after the spending more than ten plus years coming here, Ash was still the same scared six year old that came here for the first time.

Ash looked towards the sign which read "Women's Correctional Facility". She fiddled with the strap as she passed through the doors. She walked towards the security/check in desk. She smiled at the security guard who'd become a constant figure in her life.

"Hey, Jensen" Ash smiled as she stopped behind the yellow line.

"Name. And the name of the prisoner you're here to see" Jensen didn't look up from the paperwork he was filling out on the computer.

"Jensen you know me." She whined.

"Sorry Ash, its protocol" the much older man sighed.

Before speaking again, Ash ran her hand through her hair. When it fell back down to her side, her fingers wrapped themselves around the strap of her bag.

"Ashley Johnston. Here to see Yasmine Johnston"

Even though she'd said this countless times over the years, it had never managed to get used to it. No child should have to get used to visiting their mother in prison.

Jensen wrote down the details and placed the document on top of the bench for Ash to sign. She lifted up the pen and with a flick of her wrist her signature was on the paper. She set her satchel on the worktop.

"Make your way over to the security" Jensen smiled as he took her satchel and put it into a locker.

As she took her first steps towards the security gate, she took a deep breath as she did so.

"Remove your belt, any other jewellery and empty out your pockets" the officer stated, they sounded almost bored.

Ash went through the procedure within minutes. It had become some sort of twisted routine for her, almost second nature.

Her breathing and pace became more relaxed as she made her way through the final corridor towards the visiting area.

She sat down in one of the cubicles across from the glass barrier. Her leg continually bounced as she waited for her mother to come into the room. Her eyes snapped at the metal prison door that slowly creaked open. Her face lit up as she was the small figure of her mother walk into.

Yasmine Johnston held her head high as she walked over towards her daughter. Yasmine knew that the women respected her, some of them even feared her. She'd proved time and time again that she wasn't to be fucked with and that getting on the wrong side of Yasmine would make their stay in prison so much worse.

Yasmine sat down on the stool and picked up the phone, Ash picked up her phone as well.

"Mom!" Ash exclaimed.

"Ashley" Yasmine smiled softly. "How have you been?"

"I've been okay, y'know? I've settled into the new house well"

Yasmine's gaze caught a glimpse of the bandage on her arm peeking through the sleeve of her shirt.

"What's happened?" Yasmine motioned towards the bandage.

"Oh it was just a bad cut. Got it in a surfing accident" Ash brushed her hair back behind her ear before giving a soft smile.

Yasmine not wanting to press the issue anymore let it go and began talking to her daughter about what had been happening since Ash last came.

"Thank you" Ash whispered.

"For what?" Yasmine asked, slightly confused by Ash's sudden declaration.

"For what you did that night" Ash whispered again. Her bottom lip trembled slightly.

"Sweetie, it was my job. I'm your mother, I was meant to do this" Yasmine placed her hand onto the glass barrier.

It only took Ash a few seconds to respond by putting her own hand up.

Yasmine smiled but it was clear that it wasn't reaching her eyes. Even though Yasmine was highly respected and had a high position within the prison hierarchy she wasn't happy with being inside. Yasmine didn't regret what she did that night but there were times she wished that the events had played out differently. At times she allowed her mind to ponder the question of 'what if' and the answer to those questions broke her heart. She missed so much of Ashley's life and that was her regret. Maybe she should have taken the deal.

"How are things in here?" Ash asked her mother.

"It's good for prison" Yasmine laughed slightly.

"I miss you" Ash shrugged her shoulders.

"I miss you as well. So you graduating with honors?" Yasmine's tone was wavering. She wanted so much more for her daughter than the life she was living. Despite not existing outside these barbered wire fences, Yasmine knew that Ash was still involved in the old life.

"I should be" Ash sighed.

"Ashley sweetheart, you have to get out of this life."

"I know" Ash muttered.

"I just don't want you to be like me" Yasmine gestured to her current state.

"I know, mom" Ash gave a soft smile, but both Johnston women knew that it was a fake smile. "You made any headway on the appeal?" Ash asked as she flipped the phone over to the other side of the shoulder.

Yasmine bit down on her bottom lip slightly. She took a sharp breath in, she didn't want to lie to her daughter but in order to protect her, lying was necessary. "It's alright"

"Well that's good" Ash smiled. "Anything I can do?"

"Get me a different lawyer" Yasmine muttered to herself.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing sweetheart. You just worry about graduation."

"Mom, I've got more than enough credits" Ash half whined.

"I just want you to have a better chance that what I can give you"

"I know Mom, I know." Ash placed her hand back onto the glass divider.

Yasmine looked as if she was about to say something but the voice of a guard cut her off.

"Visiting time is over" the guard ordered.

"I'll see you soon" Yasmine gave a fake smile and she placed her own hand back onto the glass division.

"Yeah, I'll see you" Ash smiled.

The two Johnston women stood up and waved to each other as they walked back through their corresponding heavy metal doors.

* * *

Ash sat at one of the few benches in the middle of the quad reading through the novel she was doing for her AP English Lit class. The headphones she was wearing weren't playing any music, she just used them as a deterrent so students wouldn't feel the need to come bother her. With her left hand she brushed back her hair to behind her ear.

Ash felt the spot opposite her bend slightly with the pressure of another body being added. Ash sighed as she tore her gaze away from the page. Her face lit up as saw that it was J who sat down beside her.

"Hi J" Ash smiled.

"Ash" a small smile played across his face. "You have to come help with clean up? I think?"

"Oh clean up from last night, right?" Ash motioned her hand around in a circle.

"Yeah" J spoke.

"Where should I meet you?" Ash inquired.

"You know where the bikes are kept?" J asked in response, Ash quickly nodded in reply. "See you when classes end?"

"oh yeah I'll see you then" Ash pushed

Before either of them were able to speak again the final bell for class rang out.

"I'll see you then" J stood up and went in the direction of his class.

As J left Ash to head to his final class for the day. Ash replaced her headphones and started to pack away the books she had out. The novel had been placed back into her backpack when another person sat in the same spot that J had just vacated.

Ash sighed in annoyance as she pulled the headphones out of her ears and removed them from her phone.

"Yes?" Ash asked the girl who she vaguely recognised.

"What do you want?" the girl snapped.

"Well world peace, a pony and maybe a will to live" Sarcasm laced Ash's voice as she spoke. "Oh and a better childhood"

"You must think that you're pretty funny" the girl spat.

"I like to think I am" Ash slightly smiled.

"So what do you want from J?" the other girl asked.

"Nothing? Just friendship?" Ash replied, her confusion was clearly still present.

"Why are you talking to him?"

"Because his uncle is a good friend of mine?" Ash's reply came out more like a question.

"Well stay away from him" the girl snapped before she made her way towards her final class for the day.

As she watched the other girl leave her, Ash just stayed on the bench looking incredibly confused about the interaction she just had with the she assumed to be Nicky, J's sort of girlfriend.

* * *

When classes had finished for the day, Ash was waiting for J near the bike rack. She would have attached the cable to his bike if she knew which one was his. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and flicked through the apps, seeing if she had any decent notifications other than the stream of cat videos and memes that Frankie had tagged her in. A text from Matteo came through.

Matteo: Tonight?

Ash typed her reply of "yea sure. Usual place?"

Matteo: Yea. See you at 7:30.

Ash returned to flicking through her apps.

"Ash you ready?" J's voice broke Ash out of her concentration.

Ash shoved her phone into the front pocket of her bag.

"Yeah, let's go" Ash smiled.

J lead Ash towards his bike as Ash pulled out her cabling. Their hands brushed against each other as they tied the cabling to the bar underneath the seat.

* * *

J, followed closely behind with Ash made their way into the salvage yard. Ash really wanted to let of her cabling and free wheel but knowing Ash's luck, the moment she did so something would go wrong and one of them, more than likely Ash, would end up seriously injured.

The two of them slowed down until they were able to safely roll to a stop. As Deran dropped a match on the ground. The ground caught on fire, the flames raced along the ground as it stopped underneath the car. In a blink of an eye, the car started to smoulder as Ash and J walked towards the two brothers.

"You set a car on fire without me!" Ash exclaimed as the four of them watching the car slowly catch on fire. Craig couldn't say anything, he was leaning against the van. Ash glanced towards him, his arm was in a makeshift sling. His hair stuck to his face with sweat. His pupils were dilated. The wind picked up and an almost rotting smell came from Craig. As this smell filled her senses Ash curled her nose in disgust. Deran was standing in front of the van, watching the flames spread throughout the partly stripped vehicle. As the flames almost fully engulfed the car, Deran spun around on his feet to face them.

"At least now we can see how see well you keep a secret" Deran spat at J.

Ash cocked her head to the side, she'd picked up on the hostility between J and Deran. It'd been there since J had returned to their world. But this was a different level of hostility. Something most have happened.

"Throw your stuff in the back" Deran snapped Ash out of her thoughts with a soft shove.

She walked beside J and threw her skateboard into the back as J placed his bike in. They both climbed into the cab. The four of them just sat in an uncomfortable silence as Deran drove down the road.

* * *

Matteo stood at the top of the sandbank, watching the few surfers left in the water. The sun had set long ago, only the glow of the moon light and the few street lights lit up the way. He looked back down at his phone. Ash should have been here ages ago. He opened up his messages and started typing an angry message to Ash.

A loud ping could be heard down the quiet road.

"Shit" Ash slightly yelled as she pulled out her phone and ran down the road. She looked both ways before she crossed the road. She stumbled as her foot connected with the kerb. "Double shit" she yelled. She brushed herself down and fixed the straps of backpack and hoped that nothing in it got damaged. Ash closed her eyes as she started walking again.

"Hey Matteo" Ash gave a heartfelt smile.

"Ash" Matteo curtly replied.

"What's wrong?" Ash asked, picking up on his body language.

"You were meant to be here like an hour ago" he almost snapped

Ash's face bunched up, confusion was present on her face.

"Matteo, I'm here now. I was busy. And I had to get to the storage unit" Ash's hands pulled down on her bag straps.

Matteo ran his hands over his head, he bunched up his hands before trying to shove them into his jacket pockets.

Ash picked up on his ridged body language. Matteo was standing straighter than she'd seen him in all the time she'd known him. Despite his hands being in his pocket he continued flexing them. He was too tense.

Ash placed her hand on his arm, "Hey, Matteo, what's wrong?" she asked.

Matteo shook off Ash's hand, he sighed in an attempt to keep calm in before he started speaking.

"I just need the money" he spun around on his feet to face the ocean.

"You in trouble?" Ash asked, her concern was obvious. She took a step towards him.

"Yeah, I am" Matteo ran his hand over his face again.

Ash was standing beside him, her eyes were fixed on the ocean as well.

"What can I do to help?" she asked.

Matteo gave a curt smile in response, he sighed as his fingers interlocked with Ash's.

"You got anything to fence?" he whispered.

"Of course I do" Ash squeezed Matteo's hand.

Matteo ran his free hand over his face again. Ash let go of his hand and pulled her backpack around to her front. She dropped it on the ground and lent over it. She started searching around her backpack for the items she had.

Matteo dropped down beside her and watched her search.

"Thank you" Matteo whispered.

"It's okay" Ash looked up at him and gave a heartfelt smile. She returned to searching around her back for the items she had.

"Yes!" she exclaimed as she pulled out the small black case. She zipped up her backpack and handed the small case to Matteo as she pulled it back on.

As the pair stood back up, Matteo handed the small case over to Ash. She opened the lid and lifted out the first necklace she'd stolen seven months ago. It was a small jewel encrusted sapphire necklace. She'd stolen it from a wealthy woman from her house. It was a small job that she did on her own. Her haul from that night was small since she didn't want to risk lifting that much. Matteo took the necklace in his hand and begun to look it over to see how he'd sell it.

Ash lifted a dress watch out of the case. Tiny diamonds were set along the watch face. The watch was still ticking. She handed over the watch. And a number of silver rings as well.

"That's all I can spare at the minute" Ash's head hung, her eyes were fixed on her feet as they swung back and forward.

Matteo shoved the items back into the case. He set the case down on the ground before he pulled Ash into a tight hug. She was shocked at this. Matteo was an overly affection person but Ash wasn't prepared for his action.

"Thank you" Matteo stated as they broke apart. "I don't know how to pay you back"

"It's okay. But since you're in trouble, just pay off the debts and give me a cut of whatever is left" Ash stated.

"Thank you"

"Again, it's okay. But Matteo, do me a favour and don't get back into bed with these people"

"I have too. Dad sometimes does business with them" Matteo ran hand over his face again.

Ash picked up on his new body language, he was a lot more relaxed, his hands were no longer flexing.

"I have to get home" Ash pointed down the road.

"I'll see you again" Matteo smiled.

The two pairs walked in opposite directions. Ash pulled her jacket closed to her body as the wind picked up.

As Ash walked down the road, she closed her eyes and listened to the sounds around her. The whistling of the wind, the break of the waves, the constant chatter from people.

When she made it about ten minutes away from the meeting spot, the sound of car breaks being slammed on snapped her out of her thoughts. Her eyes landed on the black jeep that had stopped alongside her. The back passenger door swung open and a man walked briskly towards Ash.

* * *

A/N: yup here it is. I hope you enjoy it. thank you for the reviews on the last chapters! Please review if you enjoyed it because I'm shallow and need validation.


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